The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing a solid actuator, and a medium storing a control program for controlling the apparatus. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a method and an apparatus for producing a head included in an ink jet printer, and a medium storing a control program for controlling the apparatus.
It is a common practice with the production of a semiconductor device to test the conduction of bonding wires after a wire bonding step. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 61-12040, for example, teaches a technique for detecting the defective connection of bonding wires to a semiconductor chip.
Typical of a solid actuator is a head included in an ink jet printer. Generally, the head has a number of grooves and bonding pads formed on its substrate. The walls of the grooves are coated with electrode layers which are electrically connected to the bonding pads by bonding wires.
Assume that the conventional wire bonding technology is applied to the electrical connection of the head of an ink jet printer. Then, only electrical conduction of a probe contacting the wire of a wire bonding device and a bonding pad is tested, so that the electrical characteristic of the head or solid state actuator must be measured again. Further, when the head or similar solid actuator is formed of a piezoelectric material, an extra step is needed for aligning the molecules of the material by applying a voltage.
Technologies relating to the present invention are also disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 57-138150, 61-148829, and 7-130797.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for producing a solid actuator without resorting to repeated measurement of the electrical characteristic of the actuator and eliminating the need for an extra step for polarization.
In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus for producing a solid actuator includes a bonding device for bonding a wire to a first pad and a second pad formed on a substrate of the solid actuator. A conduction testing device tests the conduction of the wire connecting the first and second pads. A capacity testing device determines, after a conduction test effected by the conduction testing device, whether or not a capacity between the first and second pads and a ground pad has a preselected value.